Barns are red. (Sometimes)

I started homeschooling Anna today!

Don’t worry, she still goest to Baby class every day from 9 - 12:30.  That gives her the much needed interaction with children her own age, forming schedule habits, and all those other things that school is good for.   It also give me a much needed 3 hour block to work!

But, I I found that she is actually pretty intelligent and catches on to things quickly.  I have also seen that she is not getting as much instructional time in Baby Class as I would like her to receive. (Yes, I am one of THOSE parents).

So, I decided to supplement her school time with homeschooling!  Like I don’t already have enough to do around here. But, one missionary, who I respect greatly, told me; “your family needs to come first and right now Anna is your family.”  So, I decided to prioritize my life and Anna is definitely a priority!  

I found some curriculum online for 2-3 year olds that is completely downloadable at homeceoacademy.com.  All the material except the recommended books are downloadable and printable.  So, the searching on the internet is not necessary - prowling Pinterest for hours  - nope!  I love it!

So, I downloaded everything and prepared for the first few weeks.

Taking a selfie with my 35 mm camera - not an easy task - and look at my hair - Oh, my!

We started today.  My plan is to do our school in the morning, before time to go to school.  The time recommended was 45 minutes to begin with a new 2 year old student.  I thought that was a bit long.

It wasn’t! 45 minutes flew by!

This is our Circle Time board.  She likes to move the cards around.

We started by doing Circle Time where we talked about the weather. She liked the sunshine picture.  Then we talked about the days of the week and decided today was Tuesday.  We looked at the months.  We counted.  She can count to 6 unassisted!  Then we sang the ABC song.

I love the mat we are using.  One of my housemothers made it for me as a gift.

Then, we looked at RED things.  She especially liked the red barn and the red wagon.  I had to explain what a barn is.  Our cows don't have a "red" barn, it is more of a pole barn.  Maybe I will get them to paint it red. . . 

 Then, finally, we played with red play-dough.  This was her first time to even touch play-dough.  She does not like to get her hands dirty, so this was a stretch.  She did eventually pick it up after seeing me do it several times.  I am sure she will warm up to it (We are going to try some more today after nap time.)

Homemade play-dough.  

Finally, we talked about all colors and then talked about how much God loves her and how God made her special.

It was as if I could see her little mind spinning the whole time - learning, discovering, reasoning, comparing.  I love it!

L-R:  Eva, Alice, Paris, Anna, Margaret
Alice is the one who made my grass mat.

Then, about 30 minutes later, it was time to walk to school - you know, her other school. . .  (and to think this was all before 9 AM!  Whew, no wonder I am tired!)